And if you’ve found my new addition to the world, and are currently reading this, you may be extremely wise!

On Saturday, street parking will be restricted between the hours of 11am and 1pm along the streets designated as the “Gran Prix” course.  There will be arial surveying going on, so watch out for the tow trucks! The streets involved will include: Pratt, Camden, Light, Conway, and Russell. I read this in the Balt Sun, so it HAS to be true!

On another note, this comment was actually over heard by moi at the community meeting back in 2009 where Gran Prix officials came to present on the race. Crazy neighborhood lady, “What if one of those cars jumps the course and flies into my house? Who’s going to pay for that?” 

Seriously, lady? Your a dip.

This morning, what seemed to be well before the alarm, the blaring of a car alarm brought me to consciousness. And it continued to bleat for what seemed like hours, non-stop. It wasn’t directly outside of my door, so I was able to block it out and go back into a quasi-sleep state until the actual alarm went off.

Walking to my car this morning, I walked past a car with that left the passenger window down…or so I thought. Actually, the shattered safety glass window was on the ground, and the car was in disarray. I guess this vehicle was the source of the alarm. However, I can’t help but wonder if the houses that were located much much closer to the blaring car even looked out to see the source of the beeping horn, or even cared, since it wasn’t their vehicle. I’ll be honest, I didn’t contemplate calling the cops to report the broken into car–it’s not my car, and besides, it’s not like I know the person who owns the car. What could I tell them besides the fact that I walked by it and noticed it was broken into? I think that probably needs to be done by the person who owns the car.

Whenever I read the Baltimore Guide crime blotter, it’s chock full of cars that have been broken into–usually to steal a blatantly displayed GPS.  One of the first things I was told about living in this neighborhood was that you NEVER EVER leave anything in your car.  EVER. And I have abided by this rule–or if I do keep things in the car, they are out of sight from passerby.  Yet every single day, someone gets a vehicle broken into, and a GPS, or a laptop, or a set of golfclubs gets stolen. What are you thinking? Cars are not indestructible and failproof  safes. They’re 60% glass! And we all know that glass is breakable!

Every morning before driving off to work, I check my car over for 1. broken windows and 2. a license plate. There for a time, license plates were being stolen like crazy. Luckily, I’ve been able to retain mine. I think it would be weird to be driving down the street and suddenly see my license plate pass me, attached to another vehicle. It would be like an Alfred Hitchcock Presents….car deja vu.

I’m not quite sure what ‘redux’ means, I just know that I’ve always read it as part of a recap. So, maybe its a fancy way of saying recap?

Anyways, the ‘hood wasn’t as bad as expected last night. Actually, it looked like either there were smaller than expected crowds at all the neighborhood related bars, or they were self-contained. There are more drunk people wandering the hood in a daze after Raven’s games than I saw yesterday. And as far as I know, no random pukers in the alley. Sweet!

I was able to find a parking spot–after a small altercation with a non-resident who said that she had to ‘run to the hospital for five minutes’.  Sure, right after she stopped at Quigleys or Camden Pub to get her green drink on.

I told her that the ‘hood was not public parking, and was intended for residents, and that the hospital provided two parking garages with validated parking AND 15 minute meter spots to the public, but she was having none of that. She decided that she wanted to have a stand-off (or sit off, I should say) and thought that by not moving her car out of the middle of the street, that I would give up and let her have the parking spot. WRONG! What part of, “I live here, and I can leave my car and walk to my house” did she not get. Finally, realizing she had lost the battle, she moved on. I took my spot of victory, and sojourned to my house.

The Brain, well, he’s not always supportive of my antics.  He’s told me repeatedly that I’m going to get myself shot if I don’t watch my mouth, but he was proud of me for standing my ground (in this situation) and not getting a cap put in my ass. Yay me!

Other than the horribly bad cover band from Quigley’s which made the house thumpy for most of the evening, it wasn’t such a bad day.

Apparently, I missed this entire thing–including the coverage on the local TV news. Go figure. 

http://www.wbaltv.com/news/22458641/detail.html

My theory? Meth addicts who are selling to a scrap metal dealer for a quick fix. My reasoning? The UMd methadone clinic just recently vacated their former premises on Arch Street, and moved into the neighborhood a few short months ago. 

Ironically enough, the meth clinic shares a building with a day care center. CREEPY!

There’s nothing quite like that little slice of heaven known as spring break. Not because I’m a college co-ed, heading off to Cabo or Florida or whereever it is that kids head these days.  No, spring break to me means one thing–available parking in the neighborhood.

You may laugh to think that this is what I look forward to, but it’s true. For this brief shining moment in time, I can find parking without circling the neighborhood for 20+ minutes.  I’ve actually had the exact same parking spot twice in a row–ASTOUNDING!

Other than Christmas break (which is almost an entire month of reduced parking headaches) spring break ranks number two on my all-time favorite time of year in the neighborhood. 

I will cherish this brief respite, knowing that in the coming days, students will descend back onto the ‘hood.  And in about a month, the drudgery of Orioles baseball will begin.  This is when the headaches will begin and my bitching will be at an all time high.

BTW–rumor has it (directly from the TV weather man) that we should see 70 degrees on Saturday! Yay! After nearly a full week of rain, I’m so ready to see the sun! (doing a happy sun dance–which oddly enough resembles a very badly executed cabbage-patch–which is honestly, the extent of my dance ability).

The rain has been pouring down for days (except for a brief period on Sunday that seemed to coincide with the St. Patty’s Day parade downtown).  Guess there really IS the luck of the Irish. Lucky me, it meant being able to go outside for the first time since last week to get in a much needed walk.

Thanks to the Brain  (that’s boyfriend, as he will be hereforto be referred to as), the sewer grate at the corner is finally draining again.  The Brain, in his infinite wisdom, went and shoveled out the crap and refuse that was blocking it.  This was done for our own selfish purpose (ie: trying to keep our basement from flooding), but benefitted everyone else on our block. What a nice guy!

People are gross (or maybe lazy is a better term).  They throw out anything without a thought of actually putting it in the garbage, or heaven forbid, recycling it to help save the world.

Hey neighbors–yes you! Garbage pickup is every single Wednesday! And guess what? Recycling comes on Friday (no sorting required). Make an effort, and maybe the neighborhood would look more charming and less like a trashy ghetto. If I wanted to live in the ghetto, I’d move across MLK.